Tag: CMS

So Many Choices

In the early days of the web there were not many considerations when planning a new site. You would simply write your content in HTML, style your site in CSS, and publish. These days we want more from a website. Complex capabilities such as secure logins, rotating graphics, shopping carts and database handling. To handle all of these requirements, we’ve created a new class of software called “Content Management Systems” or CMS for short. When you’re planning a new website there’s many different CMS available and it can be challenging to know which one you should use for your project. Developer opinions on this subject vary, however I am going to tell you that for most web projects, especially hobby blogs, business and non-profit websites, WordPress is the best choice. Here are the top 5 reasons.

User Friendly

Compared to other popular and free Content Management Systems available, WordPress is by far the simplest to use. The dashboard is uncluttered and smartly organized. Content is divided into Pages and Posts, which is simple to understand. Changing your theme is extremely simple. Installing, removing, or updating plugins is just a few clicks. It’s so easy that even people with zero experience operating a website can grasp the essential controls within a few hours of practice and tutorials.

Don’t Repeat Yourself

A key rule of programming is known as ‘DRY’ or “Don’t Repeat Yourself”. Another way to say that is Don’t Reinvent the Wheel. WordPress has been in development for several years and includes many common features that you want in a modern website, such as login capability, user role control, many built in PHP functions to handle database interaction and other important capabilities, and plugin support which brings us to the next item on the list:

Extensibility

Possibly the most powerful feature of WordPress is the ability to expand it’s capabilities through the use of plugins. There are plugins to do every popular thing you might want to do with a website, and even many of the odds and ends you may imagine. Best of all, many of those plugins are completely free. Through the use of plugins you can build a WordPress site for practically any purpose.

Mature Security

An important consideration of any PHP based website is security. WordPress receives security updates swiftly when new vulnerabilities are discovered, and updates for the core software are deployed automatically by default. There are built in PHP functions to handle things like database interaction which have already been written in a secure manner, making it easier for new developers to Do It Right.

A Large Community

Because WordPress is the most popular software for powering modern websites, it has an extremely large community of supportive developers and users. Many of the questions you might have are answered already and solutions can be found with a simple web search. Developers can be found very affordably to fix just about any problem you might experience on your website, and hiring a developer to build a simple website can be done for hundreds of dollars. Compare that to 10 years ago when you would have to pay thousands of dollars to have the same level of capabilities.

Conclusion

When you’re planning your next web project, whether it’s a development for a customer, a website for your business or non-profit organization, or just a personal blog, use WordPress. In the long run you will save money, effort and frustration.

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